JAIPUR: Doctors are opting for antibody test among
Covid patients who have completed 14 days of isolation but still test positive in RT-PCR test.
At Jaipur’s
SMS Hospital, doctors have admitted two patients in post-Covid ward even though they are positive. Doctors say the RT-PCR test might give wrong results as it reads dead proteins in the blood and shows the patient as
Covid-19 positive. In such cases, antibody test give a clearer picture.
“Even after a patient has recovered from Covid, the RT-PCR detect dead protein of virus and shows that the patient is still positive. In such cases, antibody test is quite instrumental as it shows that the person was infected with the virus and recovered,” said Dr Ajit Singh, medical superintendent, dedicated Covid-19 RUHS Hospital.
A lot of persons, who had fever and influenza-like illness earlier and are not aware that they had been infected with Covid-19 and have post-Covid complications, are also being recommended antibody test.
“A positive antibody test suggests past Covid illness. Covid antibodies start forming as early as 7-10 days of infection and may last for 3 months. We need longer follow up studies to say till when they would last. In RT-PCR test, often the dead virus DNA also shows positive results in which case patient is not infectious,” said Dr Sheetu Singh, director Covid-19 pulmonary rehab, at a private hospital. She said RT-PCR may be positive for up to a month or more after acute Covid-19 infection. “This is often seen in elderly patients, comorbid illnesses such as diabetes, obesity and those with severe illness,” said Dr Singh.
Doctors are using the antibody test on patients who are continuously being tested positive for Covid through repeated RT-PCR tests.